"Whatever the nature of the consensual solution to which a serious, comprehensive, strategic negotiating process might lead, Morocco, its King and people, will not accept anything but autonomy, within the framework of a single, unified State," The monarch said in a nationwide speech marking the 32nd anniversary of the Green March.
Morocco celebrates every November 6 the anniversary of the retrieval of the Sahara through a peaceful march in which no less than 350.000 people, holding the holy Koran in one hand and Morocco's flag in the other, marched into the desert territory prompting the Spanish army to leave.
"The Kingdom of Morocco is prepared to pursue in-depth negotiations and is open to all constructive proposals. It will seek to enhance the confidence needed so that negotiations with all the parties concerned may lead to a lasting solution to this artificial dispute,” the monarch said in his speech.
Morocco presented in April a proposal to grant substantial autonomy to its Southern Provinces, known as the Sahara, in a bid to put an end to the 32 year-old dispute over the former Spanish colony. Spain ceded the Sahara to the North African country in 1975 under the Madrid Accords but the Polisario separatists, backed by Algeria, are seeking independence of the territory.
Morocco’s proposal was presented to the United Nations which facilitated two rounds of talks between the parties in Manhassets (outskirts of New York) in June and August. A third round is scheduled but no date or venue has been set yet.
In his speech, King Mohammed VI also made it clear that Morocco “will not discuss any deceptive, treacherous proposal which seeks to undermine its full, non-negotiable sovereignty, national unity and territorial integrity.”
“Our practical efforts, he said, were based on a responsible, realistic approach. They have enjoyed wide international support, and as a result, the United Nations has adopted a new approach to our foremost national issue. It has, once and for all, abandoned all previous unfruitful plans, thus paving the way for the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1754, which singled out the Moroccan Initiative and called it "serious and credible".
He recalled the Security Council’s resolution that called upon the parties concerned to enter into negotiations with a view to achieving a lasting and mutually acceptable political solution, under the aegis of the United Nations.
Morocco, he explained, entered resolutely and in good faith into the two rounds
of the Manhasset negotiations. “This constructive approach received strong support from the United Nations General Assembly, as well as from the Security Council, through its latest resolution 1783.”
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